Heart Breaker

This is a "just cause" picture that I'm posting "just cause" I think he's so handsome!! He usually hates wearing anything on his head, so it surprised me that he would put Kevin's cap on. I luckily got a good snap shot.

I've posted several posts to play catch-up so keep on scrolling down....

Attacked by ants!!

Our house has been invaded by tiny little ants (don't think they are fire ants, thank goodness). They came into our living room where we have some carpet pieces laid down. The carpet is light tan, the ants are light, so you can't really see them without close investigation. Well, a few days ago, I noticed a 3-4 whelps on Stone's leg. I wondered what they were, cause they sort of looked like mosquito bites, but they seemed to appear after being inside, which didn't make sense to me. I know mosquitoes can get inside, but usually they attack me too and I wasn't bitten. Well, yesterday, this bump appeared on his face. Again, I'm puzzled and K kept saying it was probably a mosquito. Then today, S was sitting in the floor. He probably sat there about 10 minutes or so, looking at a book while drinking his juice. I got him up to change his diaper and notice about 4-5 MORE bites on the underside of his legs and kind of freaked out. I then went back into the living room and looked down at the carpet and there were about 20-30 ants roaming around! UGH!! My poor baby was lunch for these ants!!! I was so mad, even though Stone didn't seem to be bothered by them. I scooped him up, put him in the car seat, took our can of ant killer and went to town. I then left and ran some errands and asked K to meet me for dinner. We then hung out at my in-laws, cause I didn't want us breathing the fumes, nor did I want Stone playing in the same area (about the only place in our house where he can play because it's so small) for a while. When we came home, we vacuumed and cleaned some more and I didn't see any, for now. I hope Stone heals from all these bites.. he even has some on the back of his neck!! :(

Oh my sole....

Look at my poor flip-flop! This pair of shoes lasted over 2 years! I got them when I was pregnant with Stone because I needed a comfortable pair for my swollen feet and so I bought these. I guess I wore them so much that they literally fell apart. I was walking out of samsclub when I felt something funny on my foot, looked down and saw this! HA! Do you know how hard it is to walk with a broken flip flop? Hard!

Box O' Fun

Who knew that just a plain ole' card board box could be so much fun? Kevin brought this box home from work and before we trashed it, we let Stone play. He loved crawling through it and pushing his school bus through the "tunnel." Then of course, dad got in on the fun and went through the tunnel too... forget presents, I'm just giving the kid a box for his birthday!!!

1095 days....

....and counting! That's how long K and I have been married as of today. There are many good things to list about K, but I don't want to brag too much! Not only is he a great husband who does the little things that sometimes go unnoticed, he is also a fantastic father to our son. I mean, that kid adores K. He only mimics K (rarely have I seen him mimic me).... from words to posture to everything. It's hysterical in some things and scary when you really think about how much S watches K. K takes good care of him when he's by himself and spends a lot of time with him, which is great. I know a lot of dads don't get to spend a lot of time with their kids due to work schedules (and then some dads don't even want to spend that much time with their kids at all.) So, t0 say that God has blessed me with husband like K is understated. Thank you Lord!

However, as I reflect, a lot has happened in the past 3 years. Our wedding, honeymoon, birth of Stone, 3 moves, Katrina and all the ramifications of that storm, a semester in seminary for K, new jobs, leaving friends who were as close as family, creating new friends, a new church family and now another new church family. My parents have now celebrated their 41st anniversary, K's parents celebrated their 31st this year as well. We welcomed a niece just 3 months before the birth of our little one and have been blessed to have lived near them most of the past 2 years so that we can offer each other support as well as let the cousins enjoy time together. We've been jobless and near to homeless, save the fact that K's parents let us move in with them. We celebrated my dad's retirement which brought many mixed feelings and emotions. We have weathered 2 family member's tumultuous relationships, several deaths and a few other nameless tragedies. And now, just a few days before our 3rd anniversary, we learned of another devastating event in the lives of people we love. I am not at liberty to discuss, but it has weighed heavy on our hearts, mind, and emotions. All of this is to say that even though I'm glad I married K and he is a definite blessing in my life, I am worn down by life right now. K and I have talked about how we don't even know what it's like to have a "normal" marriage due to all the things listed above. We just cling to God's promises in his Word and thank him for his many blessings despite all the craziness around us.

So, we still will celebrate the fact that God has brought us through all this and that He will continue to bring us through new things together. We plan to "celebrate" by having dinner Friday night, without our wonderful son (who will be playing with his grandparents.) Nothing fancy or extravagant; just time to be alone together to talk and regain some of what we've lost over the past few years. I hope and pray we have many more years together.

Carpe Diem....

Seize the Day... as we were so tenderly reminded this morning by our Mom to Mom friend, Monica, who was diagnosed last April with lung cancer. Non-curable, but maintainable lung cancer. Who, when doctors first diagnosed and looked at her, only gave her at max 6 months to live. She stood before us this morning, looking quite well, giving testimony to what God has done in her life and praising Him in the midst of angst. (I seriously wonder if I'd do the same.) The latest news is that the tumors have shrunk a lot, but still, they only give her 6 months to a year to live. So, as a wife and mother to 3 precious children, she is really having to learn how to live and enjoy each day, each breath, each moment. She challenged us to not only do the same, but to also give God the glory for EVERYTHING that happens in our lives. The good, the bad, the ugly. That is hard, yet God will demand that ultimately He receive all glory and honor that is due Him. Somehow, Monica has managed to do that!

Yet, even though the doctors have given her this news, I still choose to BELIEVE that He will heal her. We already know that no known treatments or drugs will cure her cancer. But, we serve an all-powerful God who doesn't need treatments, drugs, chemo or anything else. All He needs to do is think it or..speak it..or touch. Wouldn't that be an amazing miracle and testimony to His glory.. to heal the incurable lung cancer that has taken residence in her body. However, that is my simple, easy answer and I know that I can't possibly know the mind of God. I am determined, though, and knowing that will not keep me from continuing to pray for complete healing for her and to pray Psalm 109:21 over her: "But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me (Monica) for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me (Monica)." as well as Psalm 86:1-4, "Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my (Monica's) life, for I am (she is) devoted to you. You are my (Monica's) God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me (Monica) O Lord, for I call (she calls) to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my (Monica's) soul.

I have so little to complain about in light of her situation, yet I do it so very often. Lord please forgive my insignificant rantings when every day I have an opportunity to worship and praise you as well as enjoy the abundant blessings you have poured out on me.

Oktoberfest update and Germany news....

I have to admit that I've been in a "blog funk" as of late. It seems that it hits all of us once in a while. Most of the time I feel I have nothing to even write about. So, I thought I'd spice things up with a count-down to the all-important month of October, where all 3 of us will celebrate birthdays. Instead of having a birthday week, we celebrate the entire month. It all begins with Stone's 2nd birthday on the 7th. Then, Kevin will turn the BIG 3-0 on the 8th. I will be 29 AGAIN (for the 4th time) on the 18th. We have recently discovered that some friends of ours also have birthdays in October, so we include them in our celebrations!

So, what all we will be doing this Oktoberfest? Celebrating, of course! Birthday parties, dinners, a trip to the pumpkin patch, family pictures, and hitting the Fall Festival from TFBC, seeing as how it will happen directly across the street from our house. Anyone want to park in our driveway or yard, feel free!

On another note, Kevin will NOT be going to Germany during the month of October after all. Seems that changes have been happening faster than they know what to do at his company. Long story short, it will be a while before Kevin gets to have a job change, if that happens at all. He's okay with it, as we've talked about it a lot. I am probably more upset than he is. I guess that's what spouses do.

First Day of School 2007

Well, it's that time again.. time for S to go back to school (okay, Parent's Day Out, but he still learns things!!) Here's a couple of pictures of him this year (his first day was technically Sept 4 but we were on vacation, so 9/11 was his first day)........


And a couple of pictures from last year's first day of school....


My, how he has grown into a little boy, no longer a baby! His first day went great, after crying just a little when I left. His teachers (who are wonderful) said he did great... ate most of his lunch, slept on a MAT (I have to confess that I didn't think he'd do that, but I was wrong), and played hard. I'm thankful to be able to put him in such a good, safe place while I work a bit. Plus, his teachers seem to love him. The other good thing about his class is that all the kids are his age (4 of them are turning 2 this month) and there are lots of boys! S is around a lot of girls, due to my friends having girls and his cousin M being a girl, so this is good for him to be around some boys this time! I pray he has a great year!

Remembering....

Taking just a moment to reflect on what happened 6 years ago today... I'm sure we all remember where we were and what we were doing when we were brutally attacked. I was getting ready for work and remember as clear as day thinking, "Let me turn on the news and see what's going on in the world today." Wish I hadn't. I remember calling my then-secretary and best friend Cindy who was already at work (at the church) and told her to get to a TV and why. I kept staring at the TV thinking I was watching a movie preview or something. It just didn't seem real. I didn't want it to be real. After arriving at the church, we all huddled in my supervisor's office (the only office with a TV) watching the horror. We didn't any work done that day, as I'm sure most people didn't get much done or if they did, it wasn't worth anything. Kevin was in France at the time living/studying/working on his MBA. He recalls it with some vagueness.. he remembers his parents trying to get a hold of him via phone and someone at work had to alert him to what was happening back "home." Of course, they were several hours ahead of us, but the news hit the world pretty fast.

The worst thing about it is the people who had to pick up the pieces after the smoke cleared and had to move on... those who lost loved ones, coworkers, friends, neighbors, etc. I'm not sure I would have done so well emotionally had I lost someone to that kind of tragedy. The question of "why" never being answered. I pray for those who are still moving on... I pray that America would turn back to God most importantly, for we as a nation have lost our "true love." Only Christ can heal our nation, bring justice to those who hurt and do wrong against us. I hope we never forget....

Family Pic 2007

What a difference a year makes! Almost to the day, we posed last evening for our annual family picture. Look at the difference between S then and now!!

2007 Family Pic..
2006 Family Pic....

S and Nate 2006...
S and Nate 2007!!

First full day at the beach

Well, after a crazy start to our vacation yesterday (Saturday), we had a great day today. (If you want to read about that crazy adventure, it's at the very end.) We are staying for a week at Surfside Beach (which is south of Myrtle) with my parents, brother and his wife and son and my sister. The pictures below highlight most of our fun.

First thing this morning, S was up again at his normal time, 7:15 (ugh.. is it too much to ask that the boy sleep in once in a while??!!) So, after we ate some breakfast, K, S, and I decided to walk down to the beach and check things out. (The rest of my family was still snoozing.) It was around 8:15 but there weren't many people out yet. Our rental house is about 3 rows back from the beach front. The public beach access is right beside a fishing pier, so there were lots of people out fishing, and several people walking the beach but none in the water yet. We found out why: it happens to be unseasonably cool for the first of September, with a strong wind, which makes it pretty cool once you get wet. Anyway, back to my story about this morning: so we walk down to the beach to let S see everything. We weren't sure how he'd react. Last year, he wasn't quite 1 yet and didn't like the sand at all. Over the past year, he started loving sand, so we were curious if he'd like the beach with tons of sand to play in. After we reached the beach, he thought the sand was cool, but thought the ocean waves rushing up to greet him was even cooler. He had an absolute ball! We hadn't planned to get in the ocean that early, but he was addicted.... we mostly just put our feet in, but at one point, the waves knocked him off balance and he fell down. That didn't scare him at all.. in fact, he wanted to get out in the middle of the waves! Mind you, we didn't have our swim suits on, but that was okay because we were having a blast watching him being fascinated by the waves.

The pictures below are when we went back later that morning, dressed for playing in the surf and with the rest of the family in tow. S just cackled and would have stayed in the waves all day if we had the energy and stamina to hold onto him while he kicked the water and splashed around (all the time fighting the mega-strong current.) The little boy that is in the last few pics is my nephew Nate who's 3 1/2 years old. The boys have been having a ball together.






Then, the rest of our day went as follows: after swimming and playing at the beach, we came back to our house, swam for a few minutes in the pool at the house, ate lunch, took a nap, and then headed out to eat an early dinner. I won't say the name of the restaurant we ended up at, but it was kind of cheesy (real LIVE mermaid and pirates, just to give you a clue) and way over priced!

After dinner, we needed to get a few groceries, so K volunteered to go to the store after dropping S and me off at a little playground that was just a short walk from our house. S and I had a fun time playing and he didn't want to leave that either, but I was worn out! So, we started our walk back and K was coming back from the store and picked us up. We then headed out to the deck of the house and played with some bubbles... see pics below... it was a fun day and I'm thankful to be on VACATION!!


So, if you're not tired of reading my blog yet, here's the rest of the story from my very first comment of our hectic day of actually getting to the beach... actually, not only did we have a hard time getting out of G'ville to get here, but my parents and sister had their own crazy adventure too...

Our morning started out pretty relaxed..except for the fact that S thought we were leaving him (as he noticed all the packed bags and stuff). He kept clinging to us as if we were going to pack our car and leave him at the house. When we started loading the car, he wanted to get into his car seat, i guess so we wouldn't forget him!! Ha.. he cracks me up. Anyway, we hadn't planned to leave until around 10:30 which would allow us taking our time getting to the beach, time to stop and have lunch, etc. since we couldn't check into the house until 4pm anyway. Well, I called my mom to see how they were doing on their journey and told her we had just left. As soon as I hung up with her, I looked at my hand and realized I had forgotten my wedding rings, so I wanted to turn back around and get them. K was cool with that and we were only about 7 minutes from the house. So, we turn back around. I get my rings and we head out again. We go all the way to Haywood Rd which is at least 15-2o minutes from our house to go by the bank to get cash for our trip. As soon as we finish at the ATM, I realized that we had forgotten to pay rent, which is due on the 1st of every month. Agh!! So, we have to head BACK to our house, pick up an envelope and then luckily, just go around the corner to the rental place and leave the check under the door so they will have it first thing on Tuesday morning and so we won't be late on rent. We then head towards the interstate again. By this time, we had driving around G'ville for about an hour, I had to use the bathroom, S was getting hungry (not to mention he had a very full, leaking diaper) so we decided to go ahead and have lunch. Mind you, we are still in the city limits! We eat at my favorite place (ChicFilA) for lunch and finally get on the road. Not to mention we had to stop for gas too!

By this time, it was past 12:30 and my mom calls again around 12:45 to ask how close we were to the beach. I just laugh and tell her that we had just left and ask her why. Well, when they had left their hotel (somewhere north of Charlotte) and started traveling and got to Charlotte, they took a wrong exit which threw their entire journey off-kilter. They had a map, so weren't lost, but they were by no means on the quickest route towards the beach. She had found out from my brother that the rental place which had our house key closed at 4pm and wouldn't reopen until Tuesday and so was calling me to see if we'd make it there by 4. I of course said no, since we had just left and she said she thought she could call them and make arrangements to get the key after 4. (Turns out, by luck, I guess, that they actually did get to the rental place by 4, but right at 4!)

The rest of our trip was pretty uneventful, except for when we stopped so I could use the bathroom at a gas station and I thought I would puke, as it ranks in my top ten list of dirtiest bathrooms in America (I also have a top ten list of cleanest bathrooms, but there aren't as many on that list as on the dirtiest list.. no surprise there.) Anyway.. that is our story!!